Under Illinois law, when two or more candidates are tied the county clerk shall “determine by lot which of them is to be declared elected.”

Clerk Orr will put the candidates’ names in pill bottles, shuffle them around and pick and make a selection. The person whose name is chosen gets to call the coin toss of “heads” or “tails.” The coin will be tossed and the face-side up wins. The loser of the coin toss will have the opportunity to file for a discovery recount if they so desire.

The Cook County Clerk last decided an election by coin toss in 2007. Several coin tosses broke ties around the state after the April 5 election.